Hot Chocolate | Melbourne Hot Chocolate | Melbourne

Alright alright, we know Melbourne is the 'coffee' capital of Australia but new boutique chocolate stores are opening up all over the city, and the chocolate is.. real good.

Italian hot chocolate
Brunetti's, Carlton

"So thick you could stand the spoon up in the cup!"enthused a fan. Well, not quite, but there's no doubt this is the biz if you're looking to mainline on pure chocolate. Ask for it with whipped cream separately, which you can then add to taste - or not, if you're really serious. Each sip of this wicked-looking brew delivers a jolt of intense, bittersweet, molten bliss. - Necia Wilden

Italian hot chocolate
L'Aperitivo, Elsternwick

Close your eyes and pretend you're in Florence. This Italian cafe serves authentic Italian hot chocolate just as you'd find it in the mother country. Reminiscent of a cup of hot chocolate custard, it's closer to a dessert than a hot drink. This heavenly sweet, hot, thick cup of decadence is made from chocolate powder imported from Italy and is squisito! Il cioccolato caldo perfetto (the perfect hot chocolate!). - Liz Cincotta

Hot chocolate
Cacao, St Kilda

The name of this fine chocolate and patisserie store says it all, really. Cacao - it's French for cocoa - knows its stuff when it comes to chocolate. A steaming-hot, generously sized cup, wickedly rich and made with imported Belgian chocolate, arrived with a velvety layer of choc-specked froth on top. Seriously delicious. - Liz Cincotta

Liquid hot chocolate
Koko Black, Royal Arcade, city

If molten hot chocolate is to chocolate what espresso is to coffee, then this is a fine caffe latte. Lighter, thinner and considerably less rich than the Brunetti's version, it's perhaps the ideal style to have before midday. Koko Black makes it with melted Belgian chocolate, which would explain the good flavour and length. A friendly, easy-to-drink hot chocolate, although we would have liked ours a bit hotter. - Necia Wilden

Valrhona hot chocolate
Holy Palate, Elwood

The Holy Palate hot chocolate story is black and white. Well, OK, brown and white. Thick, rich, velvety, adults-only hot chocolate is made here from Valrhona milk chocolate. Creamy, dreamy, snow-white hot chocolate is made here, too, with Valrhona white chocolate. Traditionalists will love the simplicity of the bittersweet milk chocolate brew, while white choc fans will appreciate the almost egg-custard-like white chocolate concoction that's sprinkled with spices. Whatever your colour preference, prepare for what might be the supreme hot chocolate indulgence this side of Florence. - Nikki Fisher

Hot chocolate
Hahndorf's Fine Chocolates, Elwood

Hahndorf's German chocolate making traditions have certainly extended to their hot-chocolate making. Our glass of liquid bliss was carefully prepared using a handmade chocolate frog (optional) that was slowly melted with hot milk and topped with a frothy mound of chocolate shavings. For choc-coffee addicts, Hahndorf's contemporary take on the mocha (or chocolatte) is equally splendid. Both include a complimentary, handmade chocolate cream or truffle of your choice. - Liz Cincotta

Hot Chokolat Martini
The Botanical, South Yarra

Not every bar has thick slabs of top-quality Swiss chocolate at the ready. Then again, not every bar has pastry chef ingredients and matching fondue sets at its disposal. Bar manager Johnnie Karagiannis could barely wait for winter this year to launch his stroke of alcohol-infused genius, a heavenly blend of 42 Below Vodka drenched in premium, melted milk chocolate and rimmed with Cointreau and cacao. So decadent; so, so good. - Marcella Bidinost

Classic Chocolate
Fraus Crepes & Chocolat
345 Victoria Street, North Melbourne (03) 9328 8999
www.fraus.com.au

When Augustus Gloop fell in Willy Wonka's chocolate river, your imagination had him gulping this. Swirling in a cioccolateria a few blocks west of the Queen Victoria Market, this cocoa and warm milk mix creates sublime syrup akin to a light ganache; every sip spurs groans of pleasure. Fraus is behind Melbourne's classic Italian hot chocolate revolution. Using Italy's Parisien brand, they're now delivering their 14 cocoa powder blends to 40 cafes around Melbourne. Please, thank them. - Marcella Bidinost

Malteser hot chocolate
The Hare and Tortoise, East St Kilda

This bustling little place is building a solid reputation for quality food and wine, served cheerfully in comfortable surrounds. Now you can add gourmet hot chocolates to the list. This one's elegantly simple and it works. It arrives with crumbled Maltesers on top, which eventually sink and melt in the hot, malty liquid, leaving deliciously gooey specks of malt floating in the thick chocolate. Seductively sweet. Other options include peppermint crisp, jaffa, chilli and coconut rough. - David Sutherland

Italian hot chocolate
Cafe Latte, Toorak

The name of this casually stylish cafe-restaurant suggests a commitment to coffee, but it's equally serious about its rich, velvety hot chocolate. Made from sachets of imported Cameo Ciobar, this grown-up sweet treat comes in a cappuccino cup topped by a frothy, latte-style crema. No tall kiddie glasses with syrup sloshed down the sides here. This is a seriously luscious indulgence. "Sinfully seductive,"declared one appreciative teenage taste tester. "Heaven in a cup,"her friend agreed. - Debi Enker

Prices have been removed because readers come along 2 years later and then complain to the cafe's that prices have changed.. derr.

Source: The Age

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